Plug-tobacco-tagging machine



H e e h S W e w w 3 R N I H M MM G M m T P0 A m G U L P (No Model.)

No. 597,153. Patented Jan. 11, 1898.

iNVENTOR WITNESSES ATTORNEY,

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

0. R. PFLAGING'. PLUG TOBAOGO TAGGING MACHINE. No. 597.153. PatentedJan. 11,1898.

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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

C. R. PPLAGING.

PLUG TOBACCO TAGGING MACHINE.

No. 597,153. Patented Jan. 11, 1898 I I r (@2 7 1m: uorrms' Farms :0.Pnomuro. wnsmwrau', o. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT rricn,

CHARLES R. PFLAGING, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

PhUG-TOBACCO-TAGGING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 597,153, dated January11, 1898.

Application filed December 10, 1896. Serial No. 615,133. (No model) v ToctZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES R. PFLAGING, a citizen of the United States,residing at Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have in vented acertain new and usefullmprovement in Plug-Tobacco-Tagging Machines, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a new and useful improvement in machines fortagging plugs of tobacco, and has for its object to provide such amachine that will automatically perform this work. I

In manufacturing tobacco in plug shape it is customary to place thereonone or more metal tags by pressing the prongs of said tags into theplug, andthis has usually been accomplished by hand, but by the use ofmy improved machine the tags are placed within one or more magazineswhich automatically arrange them in proper position, and pass them toslotted chutes, by which they aredelivered to a convenient point andthereafter picked up by magnets and finally driven into the plug oftobacco, all of which is accomplished automatically, the only hand-workbeing the placing of the plug in position for the reception of the tags.

lVhile I have here shown a construction for the embodiment of myinvention, I wish it to be understood that many of the details thereofmay be altered without altering the gist of my invention, and this isespecially true of that portion of the machine which applies the tagdirectly to the plug, and I deem it only necessary to illustrate aconstruction which will carry out my invention sufficiently for thoseskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

In the drawings annexed thereto and forming a part of thisspecification, Figure 1 is a perspective of amachine built in accordancewith my invention; Fig. 2, a section of a tagging-table, illustratingthe mechanism for bringing about the application of the tags to theplug; Fig. 3, a detail perspective of the lower end of one of the chutesfor delivering the tags in proper position to the magnets; Fig, 4, afront view of one of the magazines, the chute being sectioned away,showing the scoop in position for dumping the tags within the hopper;Fig. 5, a similar view showing the sides of the hopper swung open forrelieving it of the surplus tags which have not been placed within theslot; Fig. 6, a longitudinal section of one of the magazines, showing anumber of tags within the slot and the push-out in its normal positionbefore starting forward; and Fig. 7, a similar view showing the push-outforced forward to drive the tags within the chute.

In the embodiment of my invention as here shown 1 represents themagazines adapted to contain the tags, which may be arranged in a seriescontaining any number, and they are preferably mounted upon a frame 2 ofsome elevation in order that the tags delivered therefrom may movedownward by their gravity. Each of these magazines is composed of acylinder 3,which is journaled within the uprights 4-, so as to rotateafter the 1nannor of a shaft, and may be caused to rotate in unison, onewith the other, by the gearteeth 5, formed thereon, which mesh withintermediate idle-pinions, {not shown,) thus causing each of thecylinders to rotate in the same direction. Poweris here shown as beingtransmitted to the cylinders by a belt running upon one of saidcylinders and a pulley 6, and this pulley is secured upon the powershaftjournaled in the frame of the machine. Secured to the interior wall ofeach cylinder are scoops 7, set at such an angle that when the cylinderis rotated in the direction of the arrow said scoops in passing throughthe lower portion of their movement will pick up a number of the tagsS'which have previously been deposited within. the cylinder and elevatethem to the position shown in Fig. 4,, after which said tags will bedumped from the scoops. A bar 9, which is triangular in cross-section,extends through the center of the cylinder and has a longitudinal slot10 formed therein of a width just sufficient to receive a tag whenplaced edgewise, so that but one tag at a time can gain access to oneportion of the slot for the purpose hereinafter set forth.

A hopper composed of the sides 11 and 12, said sides being secured tothe rods 13 and 14, respectively, serves to receive the tags when dumpedfrom the scoops, as clearly shown in Fig. 4, and the side 11 of thehopper Y is so bent that the lower portion thereof when in normalposition stands almost perpendicu- This arrangement has the effect ofprevent-' ing the tags from entering the slot in any position other thanthat desired, since should they fall within the hopper with their prongspointing in the opposite direction they would not be permitted to enterthe slot on account of the contact of said prongs with the lower portionof the side 11, which would holdthe tags at too great an angle to theslot to permit their entrance, and it will also be noted that they donot enter the slot except when their prongs are approximately in ahorizontal plane, as said tags would strike against the bar 9 andsustain themselves above the slot.

Now it will be seen that it is only necessary after a number of tagshave been dumped within the hopper to open the sides of said hopper topermit the tags which have not entered the slot to fall from off thebar, and this I accomplish in the following manner: The rods 13 and 14are j ournaled within the frames 16 and l7,which latter are secured tothe strip 18, upon which the bar 9 is supported, and the rear ends ofthese rods have secured thereon the cranks 19 and 20, respectively, saidcranks having pivoted thereto the links 21 and 22, the former of whichis attached to the cam-lever 23 at 24 and the latter to said lever at25, the cam-lever being pivoted to the frame 17 at 26, from which it isobvious that when this cam-lever is swung in the direction of the arrowmarked adjacent thereto in Fig. 4 the sides of the hopper will be swungoutward to the position shown in Fig. 5. The cam-lever 23 is caused toswing in this manner by the cams 26, which are formed upon the cylinderand arranged to act upon the pin 27. These cams are of such shape as tobring about the movement of the lever quickly and then permititsretraction gradually,'which latter is accomplished by the coil-spring28, attached to the lever at one end and to the collar 29 at the other,said collar being adj ustably carried upon the extension 30 of the frame17, so as to vary the tension of this spring for increasing ordecreasing the strength of action of the lever. After the tags have beendelivered to the slot it is necessary that they be pushed forward to thechute, the construction of which will be hereinafter explained, and toaccomplish this I provide a push-out 31, the latter fitted to run in theslot and connected by means of the rod 32 to the upper end of the arm33, and this arm is secured to the eccentric disk 34, which latter ispivoted at 35 to the lug 36,

which projects upward from the projecting bar 37. A link 38 is pivotedat 39 to the eccentric disk and has its opposite end pivoted at 40 tothe cam-lever 41, said lever being pivoted at 42 to the post 43, whichalso projects upward from the projecting bar 37. The inner end of thecam-lever 41 is provided with a roll 43, arranged to bear upon the outeredge of the cylinder, and this outer edge has secured thereto or formedthereon cam projections 44, so that as the cylinder revolves and thesecam projections come into contact with the roll they will force theinner end of the lever 41 downward, thereby elevating its outerend,which in turn will actuate the cocentric disk so as to move the arm33 inward, and as the push-out is connected with this arm, as beforedescribed, said push-out will be caused to travel throughout the lengthof the groove 10 until reaching the position shown in Fig. 7. It istherefore obvious that tags which have previously been inserted withinthis slot will be forced forward and caused to pass from out of theslot. The strip 18 is bent downward, as indicated at 45, and is securedto the inner end of the projecting bar 37 at 46, and upon this strip issupported the chute 47, which forms a continuation of the slot 10, sothat'when the push-out forces the tags out of the slot they will passinto the chute, after which, by their gravity, they will move downwardwhen permitted until reaching the turner 48, which consists of strips ofsheet metal so bent and placed as to receive the tags with their prongsprojecting into the space 49 and convey them downward, gradually turningthem over until they lie level with their prongs downward.

Vhen the chute is full of tags and the continued operation of thepush-out tends to force other tags within the chute, the tags which arein the slot 10 and are themselves being forced will be thrown out of theslot by the action of the push out, which has a rounded nosesufficiently to pass under the tags when the latter offer anyconsiderable resistance to its forward movement, which resistance willbe offered when the tags in the slot are blocked from passing therefromto the chute by the tags which have previously gained access to thechute in suflicient manner to fill the same, the bottom tag beingretained by the lugs 58 at the bottom of the turner, and to prevent theliability of the tags within the chute being thrown from out the same orotherwise disarranged a strip 50 is so disposed relative to the chute asto confine the prongs of the tags against upward movement, as will bereadily understood. As before stated, a series of these magazines (hereshown as three in number) are arranged to work in conjunction with thetag-applying mechanism, and the chute from each of the magazines leadsdownward and, terminating in a spreader 48, is arranged to deliver thetags to said mechanism.

52 represents the tagging-table, forming a part of the frame of themachine, and has projecting upward therefrom the guideways 53, in whichis fitted the reciprocating block 54:, and said block is caused to moveto and fro within the guideways by the connecting-rods 55, which arepivoted thereto at one end and to the upper ends of the levers 56. Theselevers are secured upon the shaft 57, and their lower ends extend withinthe field of action of the cam-disks 59, said disks being secured uponthe shaft 60, which is caused to rotate by a suitable belt and pulley.(Not shown.) Within the sliding block 54: are arranged magnets 62, whichare equal in number to the chutes and are so located relative theretothat the poles of said magnets, which project downward from the block,pass over the lowest tag in each of the chutes, so that when vitalizedthe tags will be attracted thereby and by adhering to the poles of themagnets may be moved outward with the block. It is necessary, therefore,that the magnets should be vitalized and devitalized at predeterminedpoints,which is accomplished by passing wires 63 to a circuit-breaker64, which consists of a disk secured to the main shaft, having a portionthereof insulated, a battery 66 being utilized for the furnishing of theelectric energy in the well-known manner.

A platen (37 is mounted upon the uprights 68, which latter projectthrough the table and have pivoted thereto at 69 the outer ends of thecam-levers 70, said levers in turn being pivoted at 71, their inner endsprojecting within the field of action of the cam 72, said cam beingsecured upon the shaft 60 and so timed that when the block carrying themagnet-s has reached its outward limit and there caused to dwell by theaction of its cams the platen will be forced upward by the spring 80. Itwill therefore be seen that to apply the tags to a plug of tobacco it isonly necessary that said plug be placed upon the platen prior to itselevation, and as the tags are brought forward by the poles of themagnets they will be suspended above the block, and when the platen isforced upward the prongs thereof will be forced into the plug. At thispoint the circuit will be broken and the magnets devitalized, thuslosing their hold upon the tags, so that when the platen descends theplugwill remain thereon, after which it may be pushed rearward by theplacing of a new plug upon the platen, or it may be removed for thatpurpose. I From this description it is obvious that the attendant hasonly to supply the platen with the plugs of tobacco and see that themagazines are kept supplied with tags for the machine to continue itsoperation indefinitely.

If found desirable, the plugs of tobacco may be fed automatically tdtheplaten by an arrangement of continuouslF-operating belts, or the plugsmay be placed in a hop per having push-out mechanism for deliverin'gthemthrough said hopper to the platen, and means may be also provided forthe automatic re moval from the platen after being tagged, and when amachine is thus provided a single operator may attend a number of themachines, as the only attention said machines would then need would bethe supplying of the hoppers with the plugs and the magazines with tags.

I am aware that many modifications might be made in the design of such amachine without departing from the spirit of my invention-as, forinstance, permanent magnets maybe substituted for the electromagnet, ormechanical means might be utilized for the conveying of the tags fromthe lower ends of the chutes to a position over the platen for insertionin the plugs-and I therefore do not wish to limit myself to these exactdetails.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and usefulis- 1. In a tagging-machine, a rotating magazine, a receptacle adaptedto receive the tags from the magazine by the rotation of the latter anda slotted chute into which the receptacle discharges, as and for thepurpose described.

2. In combination with a tagging-machine, one or more magazines, eachconsisting of a revolving cylinder,ascoop carried upon the interior ofsaid cylinder, a bar having a slot running longitudinally of thecylinder, a hopper having pivoted sides, said sides being arranged towork in conjunction with the slot, whereby, when the tags are dumpedwithin the hopper, certain ones thereof will be inserted in the slot,means for swinging the sides of the hopper outward so as to relieve itof the tags which have not been inserted within the slot, means forforcing the tags in the slot outward, chutes for receiving said tagswhen forced outward, and means for removing the tags from the chute andapplying them to a plug of tobacco, as specified.

3. In combination with a machine of the character described, one or moremagazines, each consisting of a revolving cylinder, a bar having a slotextending longitudinally of the cylinder, ahopper composed of twoswinging sides, said sides being so bent as to prevent the insertion oftags within the slot other than in one position, means for swinging thesides of the hopper outward so as to relieve it of the surplus tags, ascoop carried by the interior of the cylinder for elevating and dumpingthe tags within the hopper, a push-out arranged to slide within the slotand force the tags therein outward, a chute for receiving said tags whenforced outward, an arm connected by a rod to the push-out for actuatingthe same, a cam-lever for imparting motion to the arm, and a cam carriedby the cylinder for actuating the cam-lever, substantially as and forthe purpose set forth.

4. In a machine of the character described, a magazine, consisting of arevolving cylinder, a scoop secured to the inner walls thereof for theelevation of tags placed within said cylinder, a hopper for thereception of said tags when elevated, a slotted chute arranged beneaththe hopper and adapted to receive the tags when properly presentedthereto, the sides of said hopper being so arranged as to prevent thetags passing into the slot except in the desired position, means forswinging thesides of the hopper outward to relieve it of the surplustags, a push-out having a rounded nose adapted to slide within the slot,an arm for operating the push-out, said arm being connected by a rodwith said push-out, an eccentric disk to which the arm is secured, acam-lever connected to the disk by a link, a cam carried by the cylinderfor operating the cam-lever, a cam also carried by the cylinder foroperatingthe sides of the hopper, and mechanism for transmitting themotion of the last-named cam to the sides of the hopper, as specified.

5. In a tagging-machine, one or more magazines of the characterdescribed, a chute leading from each of said magazines, a turner arranged upon'the end of each of the chutes, a table, guideways supportedby said table, a reciprocating. block guided by said ways, means forreciprocating said block, means carried by the block for removing thetags from the chutes, a platen adapted to move upward at a predeterminedtime relative to the movement of the block, and means for so moving saidplaten, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. In a tagging-machine, a rotating magazine, a receptacle adapted toreceive the tags from the magazine by the rotation of the latter, aslotted chute and means for forcing the tags from the receptacle intothe chute, as and for the purpose described.

7. In a tagging-machine, a rotating magazine, a receptacle adapted toreceive the tags from the magazine by the rotation of the latter, aslotted chute, means whereby the tags are forced from the receptacleinto the chute, a reciprocating block arranged near the chute, magnetscarried by the block to attract the tags and a platen adapted to force aplug of tobacco into engagement with the tags, substantially asdescribed.

8. In a tagging-machine,a hopper composed of a frame, sides pivoted inthe frame, a slotted bar arranged to fill the opening between the sideswhen they are in their closed position, a lever pivoted to the frame,links connecting the lever to cranks on the outside and means foroperating the lever, substantially as described.

9. In a tagging-machine, a rotating cylinder, a scoop carried upon theinterior of the cylinder a slotted'bar, in combination with a hopperconsisting of a frame, rods journaled therein, sides secured on the rodsand bent -to form a guide to the slotted bar in such a manner to preventthe tags entering the slot except in a certain position, a lever pivotedto the frame, cranks on the rods, links connecting the cranks andlevers, an extension of the frame, a collar adjustable thereon, a springconnecting the collar and lever, and cams on the cylinder to operate thelever whereby the hopper is opened or closed, as and for the purposedescribed.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto atfixed my signature inthe presenceof two subscribing witnesses.

GHARLES R. PFLAGING.

Vitnesses S. S. WILLIAMSON, ALBERT P. STROBEL.

